(Almost) every team on the Patriots’ 2019 schedule will be out to get some sort of revenge

Welcome to SB Nation’s Revenge Week: all week long, the entire network will be devoted to those stories of payback — and Pats Pulpit is no exception. Today, we continue things with a look at the Patriots’ 2019 regular season schedule and who on it might be after revenge against the world champions.

The New England Patriots have won a lot of football games during the Tom Brady/Bill Belichick era. Along they way, they made many enemies (look no further than the ridiculous Deflategate farce) and over the course of the 2019 regular season some will get a chance at revenge — at least somewhat that is. Still, almost every team on the Patriots’ schedule will be out to get some sort of revenge.

Let’s go through it week by week, ranked on our revenge meter: 10 is a maximum lust for payback, 1 is the opposite. And we start with a game that ranks rather highly.

Pittsburgh Steelers: Week 1

Revenge meter: 10/10

While the Steelers won the last meeting between the two teams, the recent history as a whole makes this a prime opportunity for additional revenge for Pittsburgh. After all, the Patriots have kicked the team out of the postseason three times since 2001, won eleven of fifteen total meetings, and just last year tied its record six Super Bowl titles. Opening week may not be the time for a proper payback, but every chance the Steelers get they have to use.

Miami Dolphins: Weeks 2 & 17

Revenge meter: 5/10

If not for the fact that the two teams are division rivals, there would be hardly any revenge factor involved between the Patriots and Dolphins in 2019. New Miami head coach Brian Flores appears to have left New England on good terms, after all, and has little need for revenge against the club with which he rose through the coaching ranks and won four Super Bowls along the way. If anything, the Patriots could try to pay the Dolphins back for the ‘Miami Miracle’. Then again, they won the Super Bowl last year...

New York Jets: Weeks 3 & 7

Revenge meter: 8/10

Were it not for the Patriots, Adam Gase might still be coaching in Miami. Instead, he was let go by the club this offseason and found his way to the Jets — a team that has suffered seemingly endlessly at the hands of New England this century: from Belichick leaving them at the altar, to losing twenty-nine of forty games since then, to legendary NFL moments like the ‘Buttfumble’. The Patriots have looked down on the Jets for almost all of the last twenty years, so every chance for revenge is precious.

Buffalo Bills: Weeks 4 & 16

Revenge meter: 8/10

The Bills have had even less success against the Patriots recently: since Tom Brady took over as New England’s starter, the club has won two regular season’s worth of games against its AFC East rival — going 32-4 since 2001. Furthermore, the Patriots will look to tie one of the few positive NFL records still held by Buffalo: they will go after their fourth straight Super Bowl this year. A win in one or both games this season, could help the Bills foil that plan.

Washington Redskins: Week 5

Revenge meter: 2/10

Washington has no real revenge motivations going against the Patriots this season: too seldom do the two teams meet, to inconspicuous is the two teams’ history against each other. The main story lines from this point of view might come from individual players and the defeats they suffered at New England’s hands in the past. But Washington as a whole has little else but maybe trying to get revenge for the Patriots playing a role in two fellow NFC East teams winning the Super Bowl.

New York Giants: Week 6

Revenge meter: 1/10

The Giants are probably the only team in the NFL to not have revenge on its collective mind when going against the Patriots. After all, New York defeated New England in two Super Bowls, all while Bill Belichick helped the club win two more titles when he was still its defensive coordinator. While the team has been quite irrelevant for most of the seasons since the first title game meeting between the two clubs in 2007 — 2011’s being a notable exception — the Patriots are not to blame for any of this.

Cleveland Browns: Week 8

Revenge meter: 3/10

The Patriots and Browns rarely met over the past two decades due to Cleveland’s continued futility and New England’s unprecedented level of success. That being said, the two teams do have a history due to Bill Belichick coaching the original Browns in the five seasons before their relocation to Baltimore. Had Belichick won a title in Cleveland, the franchise may have never left — which is pure speculation, however, and little grounds for revenge 25 years after the fact.

Baltimore Ravens: Week 9

Revenge meter: 9/10

The Ravens and Patriots met four times in the playoffs between 2009 and 2014, splitting the series. Naturally, both teams have a basis for revenge — with Baltimore certainly in a more vengeful position, primarily based on the two club’s divisional round game in 2014: the Patriots won in part due to the usage of unorthodox yet at the time legal offensive formations (that have been outlawed at the behest of the Ravens). One week later, the aforementioned Deflategate was kicked off in part because of Baltimore’s involvement. Safe to say that the team does not like the Patriots.

Philadelphia Eagles: Week 11

Revenge meter: 3/10

Two years ago, the game would have scored much higher on the revenge meter but Philadelphia’s win against New England in Super Bowl 52 was perfect payback for its title game loss thirteen year earlier. Philadelphia will therefore likely not have a lot of revenge on its mind when the two clubs meet again in week eleven of the regular season — unless the Patriots taking the title back last year is considered. Still, there is not a lot of revenge action going on here.

Dallas Cowboys: Week 12

Revenge meter: 4/10

The Cowboys are still referred to as ‘America’s Team’ but the Patriots — on the basis of their six Super Bowl wins over the last two decades — might actually have a better claim to the title. While this does likely not matter for most people inside the Dallas organization, you can bet that team owner Jerry Jones is not happy about Robert Kraft and his club establishing themselves as the team of the salary cap era.

Houston Texans: Week 13

Revenge meter: 5/10

The connections between Houston and New England are well documented, as is the fact that the Patriots are 5-0 — including a playoff victory — against the Texans since their former offensive coordinator, Bill O’Brien, took over as Houston’s head coach in 2014. While there is no deep-running rivalry between the two teams, O’Brien is probably looking forward to a chance at finally getting one against his ex-club.

Kansas City Chiefs: Week 14

Revenge meter: 10/10

Until last season, there was not much connecting the Patriots and the Chiefs when it comes to revenge on Kansas City’s part. The teams’ two meetings in 2018 — one in the regular season, one in the AFC Championship Game — changed this, however: New England won both, with the latter coming in especially heartbreaking fashion. The Patriots went into Arrowhead Stadium and crushed the top-seeded Chiefs’ hopes of advancing to their first Super Bowl since 1969 by going on a 13-play drive in overtime that ended with a game-winning touchdown run by Rex Burkhead. Needless to say that all of Kansas City will look for revenge this year.

Cincinnati Bengals: Week 15

Revenge meter: 2/10

Just like their in-state rivals from Cleveland, the Bengals do not have much to avenge when they host the Patriots in week fifteen. That being said, Tom Brady has a 6-1 career record against Cincinnati so maybe that can serve as some motivation when it comes to the purpose of revenge. Other than their lack of success against New England recently, however, everything is quiet on the revenge front.